44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 5, 2023 10:00AM
- Dec/5/23 3:03:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister can laugh all he wants, but what will he say to the 30-year-old guy from Sherbrooke who has no place to live and cannot find a place to rent because $1,500 a month is more than he can afford? Right now, he says that he will have to live in a tent this winter at an encampment that has practically become a refugee camp, in the middle of Sherbrooke. It makes no sense.
Every measure this government has taken in the past eight years has led us to this, to situations where 30-year-old men and women, with all their means and abilities, cannot even afford rent. Will the minister admit that the measures taken by his government have produced no results for the past eight years?
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- Dec/5/23 3:03:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand the situation. That is exactly why we are investing in affordable housing in Sherbrooke. That is why we are investing a total of $900 million with our partners in the province of Quebec. It is very important to keep making investments.
I cannot believe that the member and the Leader of the Opposition are opposed to investments in affordable housing. We absolutely have to keep making our investments.
We are going to continue to make a difference and build the homes that Canadians need, including in Sherbrooke.
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- Dec/5/23 3:04:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here in Canada, we have attracted an incredible amount of foreign investment by making the most of Canada's assets.
In Quebec, 99% of businesses are SMEs. To say that we are going back to an economic stone age where we are lining the pockets of foreign multinationals and letting them dictate our policies is simply not true. No, we are investing in the heart of our businesses and SMEs.
I have a question for the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. How are we supporting SMEs in Quebec?
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- Dec/5/23 3:05:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. Our government is a partner in economic development, not only in Quebec, but across the country.
Unlike the Conservative leader, who wants to take us back to the Stone Age and fossil fuels, we are investing in innovative green projects, such as the Carrefour d'innovation bioalimentaire de l'Est in Montreal, the transformation of mine tailings into fertilizer in Thetford Mines and the manufacture of brake pads for wind turbines in Gaspésie.
We will continue to invest in the economy of the future. I would like to know what the Conservative Party is going to cut for business owners in Quebec.
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- Dec/5/23 3:05:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, under the Prime Minister, New Brunswickers are struggling to pay their rent. After eight years, he is just not worth the cost. While rents are too high in major cities, recent increases have been the biggest in New Brunswick. According to Stats Canada, rent has inflated nearly 30% in New Brunswick in the last four years alone.
Will the Prime Minister agree that now is the time to get the gatekeepers out of the way so more rental housing can be built in the province of New Brunswick?
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- Dec/5/23 3:06:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to getting gatekeepers out of the way and reducing red tape, I will point the hon. member to the fact that we recently signed an agreement with the City of Moncton so it can change the way it allows homes to be built in that city. We are going to see thousands of new homes in the city, and now we are working with other cities across New Brunswick and rural communities as well.
It is fascinating that, if the Conservatives were concerned about reducing the cost of rent, they would abandon their plans to put the GST back on rental construction. They should avoid the mistakes of the past by abandoning their commitment to stop investing in affordable housing. We will get—
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- Dec/5/23 3:07:05 p.m.
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The hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.
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- Dec/5/23 3:07:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government's incompetence and lack of caring, we have seen a housing hell unleashed on Canadians. They have actively caused housing, mortgages and housing-related costs to double over the last eight years. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost. We have people living in tent cities and in their cars, and the dream of home ownership is evaporating for younger Canadians. The Liberals are putting photo ops ahead of housing.
When will the Prime Minister realize that he has built more tent cities than houses?
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- Dec/5/23 3:07:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the enormously difficult situation that families are going through in having trouble affording a place to live. However, I will not accept criticisms from that member or the Conservative Party of Canada when they stand up while the cameras are on to make hay of this for a political reason.
When they had the opportunity to stand up to vote on whether we should support initiatives that would help the homeless population in Canada, they voted against them. They are currently campaigning on a promise to get out of the business of housing. We have made that mistake for 30 years. This government, in 2017, started with the national housing strategy to invest in affordable housing. We need to invest, not make cuts as the member wants to.
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- Dec/5/23 3:08:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister has created housing hell.
Mortgage payments have doubled. The price of housing has doubled. Tent cities, where people sleep in tents, are popping up in cities across Canada. For example, in Sherbrooke, a young, 30-year old man is forced to live in his tent because he cannot find a single room.
Will this Prime Minister stop with his inflationary spending so that Quebeckers can have a roof over their heads for once and for all?
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- Dec/5/23 3:09:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is very important to understand the solution to the problem.
We are making investments to build affordable housing, including in Sherbrooke. We are making investments in partnership with the Province of Quebec with the goal of building 8,000 new affordable housing units.
It is very important to continue our work. The Conservative Party does not support these programs. It is against them. It cannot ask these kinds of questions and vote against every time.
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- Dec/5/23 3:09:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many countries have agreed to triple their production of renewable energies, such as solar energy, wind energy and hydroelectricity.
This commitment stands in sharp contrast with the approach of the opposition leader, who promotes oil production and wants to go back to the Stone Age when it comes to fighting climate change.
Can the minister tell us about the commitment that our government made at COP28 to move Canada and its renewable energy production capacity forward?
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- Dec/5/23 3:10:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her work.
This global goal is in keeping with our work to provide affordable energy while protecting Quebec's advantage in clean, reliable energy. The new federal clean investment credits will unlock projects and create jobs.
While we are working hard to build the future, the Conservatives on the other side want to tear down Quebec's clean economy, and the Bloc Québécois has nothing to offer but talk.
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- Dec/5/23 3:11:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in British Columbia, two people died, and one is still missing at sea because their vessel could not be found. It was discovered that life-saving, direction-finding technology has been unavailable.
Those on the water deserve to know that help will be there to find them. However, instead of investing in the safety of people, the Liberals followed the lead of the Conservatives, slashing funding and closing 10 Coast Guard communication centres. Canadians deserve better.
When will the government provide the Coast Guard with the necessary resources to keep mariners safe?
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- Dec/5/23 3:12:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, ensuring the health and safety of Canadians at sea is a top priority for our government.
The Coast Guard is working around the clock to modernize and replace the radio detection system with a more robust and accurate network. While this work continues, there are a wide variety of other systems in place, including a radar installation and on-board ship detection finding system on Coast Guard vessels.
I want to reassure the member, and I want Canadians to be reassured, that the Coast Guard's mission of safety at sea is unimpeded by this work.
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- Dec/5/23 3:12:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this summer, Canada relied on volunteer firefighters and search and rescue to risk their lives to keep us safe, but the Liberals have been letting them down.
Ninety-five hundred volunteer firefighters quit in 2023. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, which is here today, says that doing the work and paying for the equipment is unaffordable. The Liberals are in luck. The NDP has a bill that would up the volunteer firefighter tax credit to $10,000.
Will the government support our volunteer firefighters by voting yes on the NDP's plan to increase the volunteer firefighter tax credit?
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- Dec/5/23 3:12:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in fact, just yesterday, I was in West Kelowna visiting the firefighters after the devastating wildfires that happened in West Kelowna and all across British Columbia. We talked about many different measures for firefighters that we will be supporting, in addition to the training of 1,000 firefighters.
We have a lot of options currently on the table, but no doubt about it, we will be supporting our firefighters.
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- Dec/5/23 3:13:18 p.m.
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I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in the Gallery of the Hon. Richard Mostyn, Minister of Community Services and Minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board of Yukon.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
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- Dec/5/23 3:14:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order on decorum.
During Statements by Members, the member for Châteauguay—Lacolle called the women of the Conservative Party “weak”. I have been called a lot things in my life, but weak is not one of them.
The member's language to tear down women and reduce our value to a quota is exactly what discourages women from running for office and makes it harder for every single one of us here. Strength comes from courage of action, no matter someone's gender, not from tokenization.
If the member wanted to show some strength of her own, she would apologize.
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- Dec/5/23 3:14:40 p.m.
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I will say quickly that we must be judicious in our words. We will go back and listen to that and come back to the House if something needs to be done.
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